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Category: SWD reports

Published on Leave a comment on First trap catch Suffolk County

On June 7, 2017, 3 female and 1 male SWD were identified in a monitoring network trap set on June 1st in the border row near the wooded edge of a blueberry planting in Suffolk County. The other trap inside the same blueberry field, as well as traps in other locations (raspberry, blackberry, and grape) did not catch any SWD.  This is the first catch in Suffolk County, Long Island in this season. Faruque Zaman, entomologist and educator with Suffolk County Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center sent in this report.

A comprehensive blog on SWD management will be posted today, also. In most locations in New York, raspberries are beginning to flower, blueberries have just set fruit, and June strawberries are just beginning to ripen.

Published on Leave a comment on 2017 SWD monitoring launched

Monitoring of SWD in New York has begun! Twelve Cornell Cooperative Extension programs and 13 extension scientists are cooperating this year. Some research sites may also be included in the mix, courtesy of the programs of Greg Loeb at the NY State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY and Peter Jentsch at the Hudson Valley Laboratory in Highland, NY. Below are listed the Extension personnel who are monitoring SWD in New York in 2017.

Participants and counties included in the 2017 SWD monitoring network.

Traps will be set in 21 counties. Based on research results comparing various lures, we are using the Scentry trap and lure for our monitoring network, as we did in 2016.  We’ll post trap catch reports to this blog and enter them into the SWD distribution map.

Monitoring SWD traps in 2013 - trap is a simple plastic container with apple cider vinegar. Current traps and lures are more selective for SWD than this trap was.

Our Cornell Fruit Resources website is being launched in a new format and location this week. We are doing our best to redirect you to those resources from within the new site. Some of those pages contain SWD information. As that information is revised for 2017, I’ll post it on the SWD blog and include the new link.

Reports of early trap catch this year are coming in from Michigan. However, fruit is not susceptible until it is close to fully ripe. Currently, June strawberry fruit is green, early blueberries have just set fruit and raspberries are just starting to bloom. No risk of SWD infestation at this time.

Growers interested in monitoring for SWD in their berry plantings can contact me for information and tips, Juliet Carroll, Fruit IPM Coordinator, jec3@cornell.edu.

My upcoming blog will be a review of IPM tactics for SWD in berries. Stay tuned and stay prepared.

Published on Leave a comment on SWD and sour rot of grapes

SWD populations are building up and the warm, humid weather of late summer and early fall is very favorable for spotted wing. Any fruit hanging will be at risk of infestation. Not until late November will the majority of female SWD no longer carry eggs, as they prepare for overwintering.

Wayne Wilcox, grape pathologist, Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology Section, Cornell University, sent this alert out, "...the warm, humid conditions are ideal for the yeast and bacteria that cause sour rot, not just for SWD. These weather conditions strongly favor sour rot, since sour rot appears to require three components: (1) yeast, (2) bacteria, and (3) fruit flies—either the "everyday" fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster or SWD Drosophila suzukii. SWD is NOT required for sour rot to occur and, indeed, we do not typically find it associated with sour rot in the Finger Lakes region, although sour rot can be common here.

Recent research information on grape sour rot from Wayne's program was summarized last spring on pages 47-57 in GRAPE DISEASE CONTROL, 2016. Included in these pages are details on research trials in field and lab, management tactics, efficacy of fungicides and insecticides, and impact of training systems on the development of sour rot in wine grapes. For those of you growing wine grapes, advising growers on sour rot, or simply interested in a complex and difficult to control disease, these pages are definitely worth a read.

An interesting observation came in yesterday from a wine grape grower in the Finger Lakes where the region has been plagued by drought. Several inches of rain had fallen in their area recently, causing many berries in the cluster to swell and crack. This is an ideal setting for infestation by SWD, other Drosophila species, and fruit rot pathogens.

Published on Leave a comment on Herkimer County finds SWD

On August 20th, traps being monitored by Bernie Armata, Extension Educator, Herkimer County Cornell Cooperative Extension, caught 5 male SWD. These traps were in a blueberry planting and shortly after receiving the trap catch news, the grower did salt flotation on a fruit sample, confirmed larval presence and shut down harvest.

Two male SWD on a blueberry, photographed in early September 2013. SWD populations typically build to very high levels in late summer and early autumn.
Two male SWD on a blueberry, photographed in early September 2013. SWD populations typically build to very high levels in late summer and early autumn.

The good news is the grower was able to harvest 90% of their blueberry crop before SWD arrival.

Bernie adds that, "It would seem that SWD arrive in Central NY a bit later than some other areas of the state, as this has been the case two out of the last five or six years."

SWD populations are building up. Any fruit hanging will be at risk of infestation. Not until late November will the majority of female SWD no longer carry eggs, to prepare for overwintering. If you have fruit in protected culture (high tunnels), be especially vigilant. SWD management during late summer and early fall must include insecticides to protect fruit from infestation, unless effective exclusion netting is being used.

Published on Leave a comment on 2016 Trap Network Wrap-up

All SWD trapping locations have caught SWD. First trap catch occurred over a nine- to ten-week-long period, from June 8 to August 13. SWD was caught earlier this year than in prior years, but the hot and extremely dry weather across New York State appears to have benefited berry crops, which suffered lower infestation rates in July than might have been expected from the early arrival of SWD.

Distribution map for SWD, as determined by the SWD network operated by 25 Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension scientists in 25 Counties, monitoring 117 traps.
Distribution map for SWD, with data contributed by the SWD network operated by 25 Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension scientists in 25 Counties, monitoring 117 traps.

Twenty-five scientists monitored traps in 25 Counties this year. A total of 117 Scentry traps were deployed in the network, primarily in raspberry (summer and fall) and blueberry. The first trap network site to report SWD trap catch was in Suffolk County, Long Island. At about the same time, SWD was caught at a research location in the Finger Lakes region.

Although SWD might show up around the same time each year in a particular location, this doesn't often hold true. For instance, the location in 2015 at which my program caught SWD first was among the last of our monitoring locations to catch SWD this year.

The long length of time, 66 days, over which first trap catch reports came in from across NY in 2016 and in prior years (56 days in 2015, 56 days in 2014, 76 days in 2013) provides evidence that SWD arrival across NY isn't synchronous. For this reason, in addition to trap catch reports, growers should consider crop maturity and crop susceptibility to infestation when formulating management decisions.

With most of NY in the grips of a drought - abnormally dry, moderate drought, severe drought, and extreme drought as of August 25 - this could keep SWD population growth in check. The US drought outlook shows likely drought removal in the Hudson Valley region, but drought will likely persist in western NY and Suffolk County.

It is easy and fast to check fruit for SWD infestation. Leaky fruit and dull sunken areas on fruit point to infestation. A quick salt flotation assay provides a good measure of SWD infestation in fruit—time well spent. Consult the Cornell Fruit Resources SWD pages for more information on dealing with this invasive pest.

Published on Leave a comment on Steuben County first & sustained catch

Two male SWD were caught in Steuben County on August 13, 2016 in a trap set within a small planting of raspberry and blueberry; no SWD were caught in the trap outside the planting. The following week, sustained catch occurred with 5 male SWD caught within the planting and 2 male SWD caught in the trap outside the planting. These traps are being monitored by Stephanie Mehlenbacher, association community educator, Steuben County Cornell Cooperative Extension.

This report completes SWD early season monitoring. All New York monitoring sites have caught SWD. Maintain an effective SWD management strategy on late season berry crops.

Published on Leave a comment on Clinton County sustained catch

Four male SWD were caught in traps set in a summer raspberry planting in Clinton County in the week ending July 11, 2016, indicating sustained catch. The following week, high numbers of SWD were caught and enumerated on July 19, 2016—10 male and 15 female SWD in the raspberries.

Traps set in the blueberries at this same location only had 2 female SWD in traps checked on July 19. A similar scenario was seen on another farm in New York where raspberry and blueberry are both grown. This would suggest that raspberry is more attractive to SWD and that traps set in raspberry may provide earlier warning of SWD arrival. This also suggests that raspberry is at higher risk of SWD infestation than blueberry.

Traps at this Clinton County location are being monitored by Lauren Fessler, summer intern, who is working with Amy Ivy, Extension Educator, Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program and Clinton County Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Published on Leave a comment on Essex County first catch

First trap catch in Essex County occurred on July 18, 2016 with a very large number of SWD caught in a summer raspberry planting. A total of 49 SWD, 33 male and 16 female, were enumerated in the four traps by Lauren Fessler, summer intern, who is working with Amy Ivy, Extension Educator, Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program and Clinton County Cornell Cooperative Extension. It is likely that sustained trap catch has occurred at this location by now.

Published on Leave a comment on Onondaga County sustained catch

A large number of SWD were caught during the week preceding August 3, 2016—53 females and 18 males—in traps set in a blueberry planting in Onondaga County. Luckily blueberry harvest at this location is winding down, because SWD populations are building up! These traps are being monitored by Nicole Mattoon, Field Technician, and Juliet Carroll, Fruit IPM Coordinator, NYS IPM Program.

Four female SWD, as seen through a dissecting microscope, that were caught in a Scentry trap. The inset in the middle is a close-up of the females ovipositor.
Four female SWD, as seen through a dissecting microscope, that were caught in a Scentry trap. The inset in the middle is a close-up of a female's ovipositor.

Published on Leave a comment on Seneca County first and sustained catch

On July 20, 2016 first catch of 7 female SWD was found in a blueberry planting in Seneca County. The following week SWD had been caught again in the traps, indicating sustained catch. Traps at this location are being monitored by Gabrielle Brind’Amour, technician with Greg Loeb’s small fruit entomology program, NYSAES, Cornell University, Geneva, NY.

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